Control systems for modem gas turbine engines measure internal conditions at various positions within the air and the gas paths therethrough. Air pressure and temperature measurements may be made by through the use of Pitot tubes, thermocouples, and other devices positioned within the compressor and elsewhere. One known pressure device is a Kiel probe. Generally described, a Kiel probe is a shrouded Pitot tube that is not sensitive to changes in yaw angle. An example of a Kiel probe is offered by United Sensor Corporation of Amherst, N.H. Other types of temperature and pressures probes are known.
In the absence of suitable hardware, the sensors may be slotted into the compressor or other location on rakes. Rakes are generally mounted onto a machined surface within the compressor and elsewhere. Such machined surfaces, however, may be expensive to manufacture. Moreover, in certain turbine components such as in a diffuser, it may be difficult to find enough space for the number of desired rakes. This may be particularly true in a split diffuser used in gas turbine engines such as that offered by General Electric Company of Schenectady, N.Y. under the designation 7FA-05. Such a gas turbine engine provides a split diffuser with limited room for the positioning of the rakes and other types of instrumentation.
There is thus a desire for an improved instrumentation rake and the like. Such an improved instrumentation rake would accurately measure temperature and/or pressure while requiring less space and machined surfaces within the compressor or elsewhere as compared to known rakes.